In ‘Magician and Mechanic,’ Michael Horton renews our confidence that the gospel is the church’s enduring answer to modernity’s recycled errors.
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A seasoned pastor once told me, “Satan recycles.” In context, he was saying that the same heresies and philosophical errors tend to resurface throughout history. It’s similar to what C. S. Lewis meant at the end of The Silver Chair when the Narnians were celebrating the rescue of Prince Rilian and the downfall of the Green Witch: “Those Northern Witches always mean the same thing, but in every age they have a different plan for getting it.” There’s nothing new under the sun (Eccl. 1:9).
InMagicianandMechanic:TheRootsof“SpiritualbutNotReligious”fromtheRenaissancetotheScientificRevolution,MichaelHortonshowsthatthesurgeinpeopleidentifyingas“SpiritualbutNotReligious”(SBNR)hasdeeprootsinWesternculture.InthefirstvolumeintheDivineSelfseries,ShamanandSage,Horton—professorofsystematictheologyandapologeticsatWestminsterSeminaryCalifornia—tracesSBNRbacktoatleasttheAxialAge(c.600BC).Thissecondvolumecontinuesthatchronol
